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Report: Plane was flying low

The preliminary official report about a plane crash Dec. 12 that killed veteran pilot and mechanic Dana Brewer of Clifton and passengers William Kennon, 47, of Collbran, and Richard “Jim” Platz, 47, of Fruita, confirms that the men were flying at low altitude looking for lost cattle.

The report from the National Transportation Safety Board says the Piper PA-24-250 airplane piloted by Brewer crashed near Vega Reservoir at about 1 p.m. into a sparsely wooded area “with rising terrain in the distance” the report reads.

Kennon and Platz were ranchers, and were flying with Brewer to search for cows, the NTSB confirms. Their flight originated from the Mack Mesa Airport at about 11:15 a.m.

NTSB said “visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight,” meaning the pilot was flying under visual flight rules. They operated without a set flight plan. The report also says there were no witnesses to the accident, and did not provide any more specifics as to a reason why the the plane went down.